apuntadovsapuntarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“apuntado” and “apuntar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,279
“apuntado” frequency rank
#11,162
“apuntar” frequency rank
26441
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apuntado apuntar
Definition Participio de apuntar o de apuntarse. Dirigir un arma hacia un objetivo.

Where the eye mixes apuntado and apuntar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
apuntado
7 ch
apuntar

Why the eye confuses apuntado with apuntar

A purely visual mix-up. apuntado ([apũn̪ˈt̪að̞o]) and apuntar ([apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apuntado is recorded at frequency rank #15,279, classified as averb, pronounced [apũn̪ˈt̪að̞o]. apuntar is at rank #11,162, tagged as averb, pronounced [apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 26441, this pair ranks #231,598 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apuntado vs apuntar

Shared letters: anptu. Private to "apuntado": do. Private to "apuntar": r.

"apuntado" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "apuntar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apuntadoapnutado · appuntado · apunatdo · apunntado · apuntaddo · apuntaod · apuntdao · apunttado
  • apuntarapnutar · appuntar · apunatr · apunntar · apuntarr · apuntra · apunttar · aputnar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apuntado" for "apuntar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([apũn̪ˈt̪að̞o] versus [apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "apuntado" vs "apuntar" - which ranks higher?
"apuntar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,162 in our Spanish list, against #15,279 for "apuntado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apuntado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apuntar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #231,598 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apuntado" and "apuntar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apenado vs apuntado". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #231,598 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list